Let Me Tell You About Rorschach
by JudasEclipse
Summary: Elizabeth Hart knew Rorschach. She Knew Walter Kovacs more. OneShot. Minor language/violence.suggestive themes.


Let Me Tell You About Rorschach

She met Walter Kovacs on the streets of Manhattan on sheer accident. Elizabeth Hart was running entirely too late for work that morning. The electricity in her apartment building had went out early in the morning and apparently turned off her alarm for work. Ms. Hart was the normal business woman: Glasses, hair pulled up, and busy. Elizabeth grew up in the upper side of Manhattan and never left, what her parents called her shabby apartment. In reality, the shabby apartment was an apartment that any reasonable person would die for. She was a medical student who did nothing but keep her nose in a book whenever possible to avoid any outside contact with an increasingly polluted and corrupt world.

It was the 7th of January 1985. One week into the New Year and Elizabeth was already tired from her studious lifestyle. Running out of the apartment she slipped and ran into a seemingly homeless man carrying a sign. The man had dropped the sign trying to catch her when she fell. He was short but apparently agile and attentive to his surroundings. "Sorry Miss. Didn't see you" was all he said. Elizabeth quickly responded, "No, no it was my fault. I'm sorry," she noticed his sign was broken, "Oh I broke your sign. I'm sorry." He looked at the sign and looked back at her "It's fine. Make a new one later. Nothing else to do". Truthfully, Elizabeth felt bad for him. It seemed like the sign was the only property he kept up. Elizabeth held out her hand and stood up straight and introduced herself, "My name's Elizabeth Mr…" and she waited for a response. He stared at her and picked up his sign and began to walk away. She dropped her hand to her side and watched him walk a few more steps before she heard a very faint "Walter".

During the rest of the day Elizabeth did her normal routine but during her lunch hour a man came in wearing a similar coat to the man she ran into and she spent the rest of the day wondering about Walter. She was intrigued from his vagueness and the fact that he was nothing like her. Most of the men she dated were stiff business men whose ties where just as stiff as they were; just another reason of Elizabeth being single. The men were boring copies of one another and she had better things to do. That night she didn't see the man when she got home. Occasionally peaking out her window to see if he was there didn't make her seem sane, but she was. That night she barely slept. Her mind was consumed with intrigue and it was strange for her to be in anyway sleepless over a man.

The next morning she got up slowly as today was her day off. She was determined to at least apologize to Walter once more before declaring herself creepily obsessed. In the back of her mind she knew she felt a strange attraction to a man who wasn't necessarily attractive in himself but his character pulled her in a way she'd never felt before. That day while out running errands she passed by a hardware store and then remembered the man's sign she had broken. Elizabeth went in and grabbed a thick piece of ply-wood, a two by four, some black paint and a small box of nails. Elizabeth felt good about herself until she realized that she had to carry it back to her apartment herself. She groaned about two blocks later as it became difficult to carry. Naturally, this being Manhattan no one stopped to help but she was made a few indecent propositions by a few men on her way back home. Lovely New York she thought. She walked up into her apartment and set everything down by the door. Immediately she turned on the coffee pot and the radio. "Remember, folks tonight are going to be extra chilly! In other news: Adrian Veidt, formally known as The Watchmen's Ozymandias has released a date for his next charity ball…" Elizabeth turned it off. She had forgotten that they were doing a special this week about Veidt and had no interest in listening. She was tired of this. It was either the Keene Act or something the president did or said.

Elizabeth continued everything normally even forgetting about Walter until just as the sun was setting she heard a man loudly say "Don't you have anything better to do you bum?" She sprang up grabbed the supplies and ran back down to see Walter covered in what she was guessing as the man's drink and leaning against the wall. He was strange, unearthly just standing there against the brick wall of the alley way. In that moment Elizabeth noticed how short he was for a man she was going to say something but he spoke first. "Didn't mean to disturb." He looked up and his hazel eyes were almost lifeless. "You didn't disturb me. I…uhm passed by a hardware store and thought of your sign that I broke and bought you the means to make a new one." She handed him the bag. He looked shocked almost concerned and lightly took it out of her hands, "Very kind of you. Wasn't necessary." There was an awkward silence for a moment before Elizabeth noticed he was shaking. It was getting cold. "Walter, would you like to come in to warm up." He didn't respond for what seemed to be the longest time. Elizabeth could tell he was struggling with the idea. Ready to accept rejection she sighed an anxious sigh. "That would be nice." Elizabeth was just as truly shocked as it seems Walter was.

In the apartment, the first words he said was "Nice place. Very cozy." Immediately Elizabeth felt anxious as she realized that he was the first man she invited into her apartment and she knew nothing about him. She felt stupid and scared but nonetheless exhilarated with his presence. "Would you like some coffee? Or Tea?" While looking around he answered "Hot chocolate. If you have it" and sat down on the floor next to her fire place. "Certainly" she smiled at the idea of how innocent this all seemed. When she came back to the room with their hot chocolates she saw him finishing the sign apart from where he needed to nail the two pieces together. "So, Walter how to you like Manhattan?" She could read the _stupid small talk _look that was on his face and immediately blushed. "Fine. Cold but fine. Not many nice people here. Except you." She smiled and then her face dropped for a moment. "Walter, please don't be offended but would you like to stay here for the night? It's going to be cold and your clothes are all wet". "You don't know me. Not smart to ask me to stay." Her fears were being confronted by a man who seemed to be of lesser intelligence and she blushed even further. "Sorry. Bad manners. Normally don't interact with people." Elizabeth and Walter made eye-contact and he continued "But I wouldn't mind sleeping on couch. No other clothes and cold outside. Could get sick". Elizabeth nodded and sat closer to the fire and more importantly closer to Walter.

"You're welcome to shower, too. I'll have to help you turn it on, though. The shower's fussy." He nodded and stood up without a word. He then walked towards the door. For a moment he she thought he was going to leave but instead he took off his coat and hung it up like a gentlemen and then asked where the shower was. As she waited for Walter to shower she saw him take off his shirt and neatly fold it onto the counter next to the shower. She noticed scars and how pale he was. Elizabeth, for a moment felt like they've done this before but she knew it as all imagined. When she looked back up she could see through the tiniest crack in the door that he wasn't wearing anything anymore and turned around bumping into her own dresser. Frozen and embarrassed she made up something to say to him. "Walter, did I give you towels?" Her face crinkled up and hoped he hadn't noticed. "Yes. Thank you." She sighed in relief and placed a dark green flannel robe in the chair by the front of the door for him and closed the door in her room to give him privacy when he came out of the shower.

A little while later he came out in the robe and thanked her once again. "Well, I have work tomorrow and I should be off to bed now. Good night". For the first time he spoke more than a couple of fragmented sentences to her, "Thank you. You're not like the others here. Not corrupted. Haven't been rude to me. Treated me with innocent pretences. I appreciate that. Hope to repay you one day." He crookedly smiled and then turned around and began to make up the couch into a bed. Without another word they both went to sleep. She slept dreamlessly but blissfully nonetheless. Walter, for the first time in ages went to bed with a smile on his face.

The next morning Elizabeth woke up with an extra spring in her step and hopped out of bed to wake Walter for breakfast. However when Elizabeth opened the door…Walter had already left. The only sign he was ever there was a note he left her on the couch. "Thank you again. –Walter P.s. Took apple for breakfast, hope you don't mind". She smiled and placed the note on her refrigerator. _First nice man I meet and he's gone off and disappeared with the night sky._

Four Months Later(May)

Saddened that Walter hasn't shown up since that night Elizabeth dragged on. But she was content to meet him. Walter said a lot without saying anything and it took her days of re-analyzing that night in her apartment to realize it. Facial tics or slight hand gestures that many wouldn't notice was how he communicated. The year was growing darker and darker politically though and it was beginning to show up in her neighborhood. Just a few muggings here and there but that was enough to frighten her a little. Even though the riots had yet to spread to her specific area she felt danger looming in the air around her every day. Elizabeth stopped working night shifts and began to take a different route home almost every night. The paranoia had set in. Then one day an apple was sitting on the steps of her apartment building. _Walter._ She smiled all the way up to her apartment building and placed the fruit in the middle of her dining room table.

Another Three Months(August)

Elizabeth's life was getting easier. She got a job as a full time doctor in the same hospital she had been working at previously and thoughts of Walter diminished as her workload increased. This night Elizabeth had worked a double and got out later than anticipated and had to walk home late that night. Elizabeth was almost home when she noticed a small group of men following her. She began to walk faster and had made a terrible mistake by trying to lose them. She turned too early and turned into an alley way. "Hey sweetie" was all she heard before she was shoved against the wall. Shaking with fear Elizabeth began to inhale a breath to scream but her attackers punched her in the stomach to prevent it. "This won't hurt a bit". "Don't struggle and we won't kill you". "Be a good girl and let us have our fun. We'll leave after this". Elizabeth kept struggling. She was hyperventilating as they placed an improvised gag from two handkerchiefs in her mouth. As she was crying and trying to break free she closed her eyes. She felt a sharp pain in her arm. One of the men cut her deeply and it was excruciatingly painful. Elizabeth was trying not to pass out from being nauseous. She could feel them grabbing at her and just when she thought it was going to get worse they stopped. One man, the look-out was dead as a masked man had apparently snapped his neck. "What the fuck are you doing here Rorschach? You could get into _trouble_". "Fuck you" was all he said as he lunged towards the two men. Elizabeth collapsed as soon as they let her go. This Rorschach man was brutally attacking the two men. One was dead within a moment from his head being bashed into the wall and the other man's face was split open from being smacked into the corner of the dumpster. Rorschach then proceeded to place all the bodies into the dumpster. "Filth belongs with other filth." Elizabeth then recognized the voice immediately just before passing out "Walter?"

When Elizabeth woke up she was in her apartment and the man she knew as Walter was standing over her with a wash-cloth. He had been cleaning her cuts and bandaging up what Elizabeth could only hope was just a few fractured ribs. "Got to repay you after all. Didn't want it to be like this, though". Elizabeth smiled at him. "Don't sit up fast. Gave you medication. Makes you dizzy but helps pain." She reached for his hand and lightly grabbed it "Thank you Walter. I probably owe you my life." Walter reached up and moved a piece of hair from her face and she closed her eyes. What Elizabeth thought was going to be a sign of endearment was Walter simply moving the hair away to clean the cut on her forehead. She sighed in disappointment. "You ok?" he asked. "Yea…" she slowly sat up "I can't believe you're the infamous Rorschach". His face went stern and cold and Elizabeth quickly replied, "Don't worry…I won't say anything. As you can see…" she gestured around her apartment, "kind of a loner" . Without a warning Walter blurted, "Leave for New York City soon. Wanted to let you know that I still appreciate what you did." Elizabeth was solemn for the rest of the night. Walter seemed anxious and nervous around her like he wanted to say something more. As much as Elizabeth wanted to talk to him she fell asleep.

Walter spent the entire week with her caring for her and cleaning the semi-deep laceration on her arm. He was very smart. Wasn't a doctor but clearly had done this before. When Elizabeth found out he was Rorschach it answered almost all of her questions that had festered over the past few months about where he went and what he did in his spare time. She knew what the masked vigilante had done but she was not in the least frightened. Walter wasn't Rorschach when the mask wasn't on and she realized that with his simple actions around the apartment. The next week was spent with Elizabeth apologizing and Walter taking care of her. As the cuts began to heal and Elizabeth began to recover faster they began to hold longer and longer conversations particularly about how he couldn't cook as well as how he was very strange. "You know more about me than anyone else. Wanted you to know that". One night when she was almost all the way healed, aside from the cut on her arm, he made sure she knew that if he could ever love anyone it would be her. The last night he told her she should leave New York…that it wasn't safe. The day he left for New York she packed up and left for a smaller place in Colorado. That was the last time she ever saw Walter.

November 1985

After all the hell that's happened the past few months Elizabeth was surprised that she had lived through Dr Manhattan's apparent homicidal attack against the world. But today would be different. Today was the day that she received a letter from Rorschach. And she cried as she recently learned of his death. The letter was left stuck on the fridge and unopened as Elizabeth didn't know if she could live with whatever it said. So she left it and continued her life for the next few months. Through the now "happier" times she got along better with other people and began to finally make some new friends in the area. She had inherited her parents money when they died in one of Dr Manhattan's explosions. With the money she helped build a homeless shelter in CO. And for the first time in her life she felt truly at peace.

May 1st 1986

The letter on the fridge had been sitting there for exactly six months and Elizabeth had finally mustered up the strength to open it. It explained everything that had happened to him in his past and that he was scared to admit that he was losing his mind but he finally decided that if survived this that he would find her so he could watch after her. Had that come from anyone else Elizabeth would've been creeped out but from Walter that meant much more than most could fathom. After she was done crying and was sufficiently nauseous from it she put the letter right back on the fridge and continued with life as though life was normal.

August 12th 1986

Everything was fine until at work she expressed intense pain Elizabeth was rushed to the hospital early August 12th. Elizabeth was giving birth to Walter Kovacs only child. She named him Rory Walter Hart and she made sure to be the best mother she could given the circumstances. Elizabeth really wanted to name him Rorschach but didn't want her son's father to be known to protect him.

Epilogue:

Elizabeth spent the rest of her life helping children who were from abusive homes such as Walter's. Rory learned of his father in his late teens and decided to become a psychologist in honor of his father. His specialty was interpreting the Rorschach tests.

A/N: Thanks for reading. First finished fanfiction posted. Try to be easy on the reviews.


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